Wall St slips as U.S. dollar surges

The Standard and Poor's 500 declined 14.42 points or 0.50% to 2,861.90

The Nasdaq Composite shed 71.50 points or 0.91% to 7,826.55

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 84.85 points or 0.33% to 25,777.83

<p>NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks skidded lower on Friday in a dismal close to the week.</p><p>With trade negotiations between China and the U.S. stalled and both sides sounding off at the other, and with war drums beating in the Persina Gulf, there was little to muster confidence among investors.</p><p>As is usual in times of uncertainty, foreign currency traders continued to turn to the dollar for safe haven comfort. The dollar shot higher across the board, extending gains of recent days.</p><p>On equity markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 84.85 points or 0.33% to 25,777.83.</p><p>The Standard and Poor&#39;s 500 declined 14.42 points or 0.50% to 2,861.90.</p><p>The Nasdaq Composite shed 71.50 points or 0.91% to 7,826.55.</p><p>In FX markets the euro fell further to 1.1162.</p><p>The British pound continued its fall, exacerbated by the breakdown in talks between Theresa May and the opposition in the UK. The two parties have spent the past 2 months trying to negotiate a way out of the Brexit impasse - to no avail.</p><p>The pound which only a little over a week ago was above 1.3100, finished the day in New York on Friday around 1.2725.</p><p>The Japanese yen weakened to 110.00. The Swiss franc fell to 1.0108.</p><p>The Canadian dollar inched down to 1.3457. The Australian dollar continued is decline, finishing around 0.6865.</p><p>The New Zealand dollar fell to 0.6575.</p><p>In Overseas markets, London&#39;s FTSE 100 fell 0.07%.</p><p>The German Dax was 0.58% lower.</p><p>The Paris-based CAC 40 slipped 0.18%.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/261058447/stocks-in-china-fall-sharply">Asian markets</a>, at the close of trading in Tokyo on Friday the Nikkei 225 was ahead 187.11 points or 0.89% at 21,250.09.</p><p>The Australian All Ordinaries gained 42.70 points or 0.67% to 6,460.20.</p><p>In China, the Shanghai Composite weakened&nbsp; sharply, losing 73.48 points or 2.48% to 2,882.30.</p><p>In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dived 289.35 points or 1.02% to 27,985.72.</p>